


An Eye For An Eye, A Life For A Life

by mediocre_writer921



Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Just Joey Betraying Another Friend, Lazarus Coins, Matpat Comes Back, Resurrection, Sad Ending, graveyards, takes place during episode 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:07:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27735073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mediocre_writer921/pseuds/mediocre_writer921
Summary: What if there was a catch for Matpat’s resurrection? When faced with the choice of The Detective’s fate, Safiya and Joey must decide what they must do with it.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	An Eye For An Eye, A Life For A Life

“So which f*cker do you want to save?” the Savant queried the Investigative Reporter, meeting her eyes as she knocked over the pawn on the chessboard in surprise by his frankness.

The Record Producer, Jetsetter and Troublemaker all jerked their heads to the dark-haired reporter, expecting an answer. 

Rosanna gnawed on her lip, a glimmer of hope in her eyes, clearly having one person on her mind. Manny had a stressed expression on his face, knowing that this was a paramount decision to make that could change everything. Nikita, for lack of a better term, looked bored as she inspected her reinforced acrylics, for to her the answer was glaringly obvious. 

She didn’t answer immediately, a calculating look in her eyes. Though Safiya could always be counted on to say nothing, even when the time called for it. It was something Joey had noticed as the night had gone on, how reserved and standoffish she was.

Perhaps it was because she was the odd one out. She had mostly mingled with Rosanna and Matt, but even then it felt less like a trio and more like a her friend-wheeling the soul siblings. 

At last, the Investigative Reporter replied, “I think it’s pretty patent who we should bring back, Joey. What was our biggest lost tonight? Who contributed the most to the group? Who really deserves it?” 

There were so many people to choose from, Jc, Roi, Teala, Colleen... 

But only one person really came to mind when asked the question of who he should bring back to life...

Matt.

Joey picked up the harp and strung it thrice, praying to whoever that was listening that the Detective would come back and that he hadn’t solved his last puzzle quite yet.

~

“Are you sure it worked? We’ve been waiting long enough, it doesn’t take that long to rise up from six feet under the ground,” Nikita snapped, getting increasingly cross. Nearly a half hour had passed and there was no sign of Matt anywhere.

“Maybe it’s just another game,” Safiya suggested dourly. “A trick to mess with us and give us false hope.”

“But what if it isn’t a trick? What if Matt really is alive?” Rosanna challenged, trying to be optimistic. “Maybe...maybe we did something wrong.”

“Joey struck the harp three times, what more do we need to do? We didn’t go through all that hassle of finding these two Lazarus coins for nothing,” Manny pointed out. 

Joey appeared to be completely confused as to why it didn’t wok. “I don’t understand...” He read the note that came in the box again, trying to find something he could be missing. 

_The Harp of Lazarus only has one song left to play before its magic is gone._

_Its music has the power to bring one of your friends back from the dead._

_Name them and strum the harp three times._

So did it not work after all? Was Safiya right? But Joey rejected the idea that they spent all of that time focusing on these coins for nothing to show for it. 

“Let’s just find the next artifact and cleanse it, we’re wasting time. We only got until sunrise before we all die, remember?” Nikita proclaimed, getting up. “Let’s move on, with or without Matpat.”

“I agree with Nikita, let’s find the next artifact. We only have until sunrise or we ALL die. Better leaving him dead than killing us all in the process,” Manny echoed his best friend’s sentiment and the others reluctantly agreed, frustrated with the outcome. 

Suddenly there was a thunderous knock on the door and they all jumped, instinctively clutching onto each other’s arms. “What was that?” Rosanna squeaked, who was using Manny as a shield just in case whoever knocked turned out to be knife-carrying twin dolls or demonic police officers and their alcoholic girlfriends. 

Correction, everyone was using Manny as a guard. 

“I’m not opening the door, have you seen horror movies? I’m not dying a stupid death, that would be a stupid obituary,” Safiya declared. 

Everyone glanced and Joey who raised his hands in surrender. “Don’t look at me, I’m not opening the door. Guys are dropping like flies, I ain’t dying again to a knock-off Andrea Russett who likes gems and feathers and stabbing people with her dagger. Manny you go-“

“I already told y’all I’m one of the girls, I’m not risking my life to open the door, you’re still dead-“

“This all feels like a nightmare,” Rosanna moaned as the boys bickered and Nikita quipped, “Being friends with Joey is a nightmare.”

“Hey!” Joey exclaimed as Safiya simultaneously sighed, shaking her head, likely thinking she was surrounded by the biggest idiots in the galaxy. But she didn’t express that out loud.

“You know what, I’ll go,” Mortimer offered, who spoke for the first time since Colleen was lovingly shoved into a box of spikes and murdered.

It was a miracle they weren’t being trailed and haunted by ghosts, it wasn’t like they were happily vibing in the afterlife.

“Oh hey there Mortimer, totally didn’t forget you were here this whole time,” Nikita said, waving to him. The helper blinked, but didn’t make a comment as he approached the door. 

“Don’t get your blood on the carpet or the walls!” Manny chimed as they creeped after him. Calliope crept after them in a hunched position, frowning in depreciation.

Safiya threw him a look. “Is that really a priority of yours?” 

“Hey, do you know how hard it is to scrub off blood?” 

“I mean she should, she bleeds out of her vagina once a month,” Nikita ascertained and Joey snapped, “Can we not make jokes right now? We’re about to die, this isn’t time for comedy, this ain’t a Marvel movie!” 

Mortimer cautiously opened the door, it creaking as he did. There was no one outside, it was merely a briefcase that looked like it belonged to a five-year-old.

“Well that was anti-climatic,” Rosanna grumbled as the helper took the colorful briefcase inside. “I was expecting someone with a chainsaw.”

“Be grateful it isn’t. And I mean... I like a briefcase. Sure, I’ll take a briefcase,” Joey answered, relieved. Mortimer set the briefcase down and opened it, revealing... drawings. 

“Drawings?” Manny remarked, puzzled as Safiya took them out, flipping through them. “Seems like this is another puzzle to solve,” she said candidly. 

“We really are becoming the Scooby Doo gang aren’t we?” the Troublemaker cracked and the others laughed nervously as she read the clue. “Tell my story to let the fun begin.”

As they figured out what they needed to do, it distracted the group about the disappointment of Matpat not coming back for a little while.

~

As they tacked on the last picture to the wall, they checked out the story that came out of the pictures. Mortimer had mentioned that he knew the guy who owned this briefcase and that he was an insurance salesman named Willie who evidently went batty after murdering his abusive wife.

To the Savant, it sounded like something straight out of a soap opera. 

Without warning, a chest popped open and the Record Producer, who was closest to it, gingerly approached it, finding a red button. Manny peeped at the others, wondering if he should press the button.

“Should I press it?” Manny asked as Rosanna overlapped with, “Are you gonna push it?”

“The artifact?” 

Rosanna held her hands out in a defensive position. “I’m ready.” 

“We need to press it,” Joey confirmed and Manny decided to press it even though every part of him screamed, ‘You effing idiot, don’t press the button!’

The lounge went dark and everyone screamed, the Jetsetter crying, “I don’t like the dark!” Or more accurately, she’s afraid of what’s in the dark. 

“Is everyone alright?” Mortimer asked and they all answered, “Yeah.” 

Purple lights turned back on, casting a neon glow across the room. They all studied the room, pondering about what they should do next. 

Then another box opened. “How many damn secret compartments are in this lounge? I swear to there’s gonna be like a trap door underneath my feet or some shiz later on,” Nikita grumbled as the group gathered around the second box. 

Joey peeked inside and found a flashlight. “Curiouser and curiouser,” the Savant mumbled, flicking the switch to turn it on, swaying it to and fro. 

And found a glowing line on the wall that wasn’t there before. “Look!” he shouted, adverting everyone’s attention. He started flashing the light around different parts of the room to see if there were more glowing things on the walls and noticed different symbols and lines covering the walls.

Getting to where the drawings were tacked on the wall, Joey read aloud, “Travel symbol-“

Safiya moved the paper out of the way and finished, “To symbol.” 

“Travel symbol to symbol,” he parroted and continued, “Starting with the swirl.” 

The Investigative Reporter motioned to the wall as Joey shone his light. “Look at how follow is written.”

“That’s a zero,” Nikita realized, catching on. “So we follow the arrows to the next symbol?” Manny guessed, not completely confident that was the case.

“I guess so,” Rosanna replied as Joey traced the pointers to the next symbol. 

Eventually, they hopped from symbol to symbol though Joey really did most of the work)and they acquired from those, ‘F0llow Gr4ve In5tructions Lit3rally’. 

“What do we do with these numbers? Is it a...” Rosanna waved her arms around, completely forgetting how to English for a moment. “Code?”

“But what would the code be for? We don’t need to unlock anything yet... I don’t think,” Manny rebutted.

“Maybe we need to find a grave,” Safiya suggested and Nikita scoffed, “Honey, I don’t have my grave-robbing boots on.”

“Maybe the grave is in here somewhere, maybe it’s an image or picture we glossed over and not an actual you know... grave.”

Lord knows Joey’s dealt with one too many graves in his lifetime. He’s been in one himself. And also buried a friend alive into their grave but let’s not discuss that-

As if a sign from God, at that second he found the grave. On the wall. Glowing at him, beckoning the Savant to go towards it. “Over here!” 

“R.I.P,” the Record Producer said aloud. “Rip it off,” Safiya instructed. “Follow grave instructions literally. That’s what it says. Maybe that’s what the numbers are for.” 

The Investigative Reporter tore it off the wall and found a little lock combination, quickly putting in the numbers ‘0453’ and unlocking whatever the hell they just found. 

Joey prayed it was the next artifact or something that could really bring Matpat back, since their first attempt was a complete dud. 

The lights went back to normal and Rosanna sighed in relief, happy to have the lights back on. 

“It’s the next artifact,” Safiya discovered, careful to not touch it or look into it too closely just in case it was cursed or decided to corrupt her and turn her into an evil puppet.

What? Given what has happened tonight, it wouldn’t be too surprising if that did occur. It was a wooden wheel with a red swirl around it and there was a note in front of the artifact. The wheel bearer a resemblance to something out of a funhouse. 

Safiya hated funhouses.

Manny put his hands on her shoulders as she recited out loud, “The Psychedelic Swirl warps and distorts the souls of all who stare into it. To cleanse this wicked artifact, you must brave the rooms of the funhouse. You’ll need a ticket to enter, but don’t plan on making it back out.”

There was an envelope placed next to the Psychedelic Wheel, hypothetically containing their funhouse tickets. 

“Guys... there’s only six tickets in here,” Nikita admitted, taking out six red tickets. “But there’s seven of us if we count Mortimer and Calliope.” 

“Unless this Willie guy doesn’t want us to tag along,” Calliope indicated, hinting at something. Safiya comprehended what Calliope meant at once and argued, “But the Harp didn’t work... Matpat’s still dead.” 

“What if he’s not? What if you’re missing something?” 

“We haven’t looked at the map... there’s a possibility that a we can find useful hints,” Rosanna proposed, hauling the artifact into her arms and they stalked towards the other side of the room to inspect the map that laid out the town of Everlock.

“So clearly what’s new here is the funhouse and it says, ‘The funhouse is open for business. Bloody business.’” Safiya said, frowning. 

“Bloody business. Of course,” Joey remarked. “Well that’s handy.” Then his eyes slowly trailed to the church, noticing that something was different about it. “The church is circled...”

“Interesting...” Safiya murmured, furrowing her eyebrows. There was loud cursing behind them, which interrupted the conversation and Rosanna scolded, “Language!”

“Sorry, but the FRICKIN’ TICKET JUST RIPPED IN HALF!” Manny yelled, holding one that was now severed in half. 

Nikita batted an eyelid and probed, “How the fu-“

“I don’t know, it just happened!” 

Rosanna shook her head and exhaled as she fumbled to balance it. The tiny Jetsetter felt something that was underneath the relic and lifted it up to see what it was. “There’s a note down here.” 

She attempted to grab it, but almost dropped the wheel in the process and the Troublemaker reached out and yanked it off for her, studying the little piece of paper. 

“To return what was once lost and retrieve the past, the two who found the Lazarus coins must travel to the house of worship to acquire the power to raise the dead. Strumming the Harp alone does not and will not suffice, it will extract a terrible price..” 

Safiya and Joey locked eyes as Nikita read the note, and the latter said as he picked up the harp again, “Looks like Safiya and I will be paying Jesus a visit.” 

“Let me come with you, just in case,” Calliope volunteered and stepped forward. “The church is where the Carnival Master is kept, this could be hazardous.” 

“I think it’s best if we go alone, Calliope. If it goes wrong, I don’t want anybody else to get hurt,” the Savant requested and the helper hesitated before nodding. 

“May the stars watch over you, children. May something good come out of this.” 

“Good luck guys,” Manny bestowed to the duo. “You’ll need it,” Nikita added and Rosanna hugged the two. “Stay safe and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

The two merely nodded a response and gathered the coins and the Harp before walking out together.

“Do you think it’ll be worth it?” Manny asked when it was just the five of them.

Rosanna put her hand in her pocket and took out the badge. “Anything is worth having my best friend back. Anything.” 

~

The two of them walked as her long black hair fluttered in the air, her clothes clung to her body, arms tightly wrapped around her. 

“Do you think the afterlife has McDonald’s? I’m about ready to die,” Safiya admitted half-jokingly as the Savant and Investigative Reporter sauntered over to the church, trying to lighten the mood as they passed the big tents, trying not to think about Jc getting stabbed there after she beat Matpat in the first death challenge. 

She’s never touching a hot dog ever again. 

“Safiya-“ Joey answered, taken aback by her comment since she’s been so stoic the whole night then remembered that this was where Jc died and carried on the conversation. “Why- why would the afterlife have McDonald’s-“

“I don’t know Joey, you were the one that died-“ 

“You’re weird.”

She deadpanned. “I’ve literally mix so much makeup that my bank always calls me to make sure no one stole my card and wear weird clothing to traumatize my cat for a living, this not one of the inane things that have come to mind.”

Joey was quiet for a few moments before answering, “Good point, good point. It’s just you’ve been really distant the whole night, I was taken by surprise.” 

“I suppose I have, but that’s just because I’ve been so fixated on solving the puzzles and cleansing artifacts that I don’t really have time to bond with you all when I know that it’s likely most of us will be dead by dawn. Guess I tried to hide my feelings and hid them so well I couldn’t find them.” She laughed humorlessly. 

They stopped at the demonic cardboard cutout at the entrance of the graveyard, eyes darting to the church, where the Carnival Master was trapped. 

“You don’t think we have to go in there do we?” he asked apprehensively, not wanting to go anywhere near there. “Let’s look in the graveyard for pointers first,” she advised, dragging him by the arm. 

“Like that’s any better. We’re not going to go grave-robbing are we?” 

“Of course not Joey, that’s just rude and disrespectful to the dead to trespass their resting place. What if a ghost decides to get revenge later?” 

The Savant laughed timorously, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’d have a whole army of ghosts coming to haunt me then.” The Investigative Reporter narrowed her eyes quizzically. “What do you mean?”

“Oh nothing.” 

“If you say so.” 

The boughs of the cemetery twist like contorted bones, writhing in a silent scream. Beneath them lie the cold stones, each marking a dwelling place in which no-one is home. The flowers laid on the ground were dead, the grass a yellow brown. Definitely wasn’t the most well-kept graveyard. 

Joey picked up a rose, once red, but now was a repulsive brown. His nose crinkled at the smell and Safiya snapped, “Joey! Focus!”

“Sorry.” 

As they passed a grave marked ‘Betty Lazaro’ he stumbled on something and nearly fell onto the tomb. “Mother effing trucker-“ 

His friend spun on her heel. “You good?” 

“Yeah I just took a misstep and careened onto this chest looking thing-“ He ceased the monologue that he was about to unleash, snapped his head to Safiya and the two kneeled down and unlatched the chest, finding a bottle of salt, a coin and five little crystals. And... a journal and a pen?

“Joseph, when I read the fine print for this, I didn’t sign up for summoning things from the spiritual realm.”

“There was no fine print-“ 

“Shut up and let me berate you.” 

“You AGREED to come here-“ 

“Oh whatever, let’s just read this,” Safiya grumbled.

_To return what once was lost_

_And retrieve the past_

_Form a triangle_

_Using The Lazarus Harp_

_Three Salt Crystals_

_And three Lazarus Coins_

_One of you must stand at the center of_

_Inside the triangle_

_And strum the harp three times together and name the friend you would like to bring back_

_To return what you have lost_

_And correct your failings._

“That’s it?” Joey scoffed, peeking over her shoulder.”They could’ve been nice enough to include that in the original note, you know.”

“That’s not all,” Safiya answered, realizing the note was folded. “There was a catch, remember? But let’s make the salt triangle first.”

Once finished, the Investigative Reporter continued going over it. 

_But nothing in this world comes for free, everything comes with a price_

_A sacrifice must be made_

_A life for a life, blood for blood_

_Select a friend to die in trade for your friend and write their name down in the murder journal. The friend you select will die a horrible death in exchange for the friend you decide to bring back. In addition, you will obtain one of the lightbulbs needed to cleanse the Psychedelic Wheel_

Safiya dropped the parchment, shellshocked. Joey buried his head in his hands, not wanting to do this again. The GloZell Curse strikes again. For the third time.

_”I’m sorry, I’m putting GloZell down.”_

_“Well, it is your house, so,” Lele answered, shrugging._

_He looked up from the journal. “It’s not my house.” Joey took a deep breath. “Oh god.”_

_The name ‘GloZell’ was written down on the page._

And at the Victorian ball...

_Andrea handed him the torch and queried, “Want me to smash it?”_

_”Yeah, you do it. I can’t-I can’t-I can’t.”_

_The Mystic lifted it up and peeked at the Savant. “Ready?”_

_”I can’t look.”_

_”Okay.” She smashed it onto the ground._

“Holy fudge,” Safiya breathed. “No, no, no... Joey we can’t do this. I can’t live with this on my conscious. Us shoving Colleen into the Maiden of Madness was bad enough.”   
Hmm  
As Joey opened the journal and clicked the pen, he replied sadly, “We don’t have a choice, Safiya... let’s just figure out our options here.”

She shook her head. “Joey... I can’t... I can’t possibly choose who lives and who dies-“ 

“Then let me help you out. For starters, we can’t betray Ro. Matpat would kill us and we’d never save this town.” 

The Investigative Reporter took a deep breath, trying to focus and detach herself from her moral compass. “Okay... that’s fair.” 

“I don’t think I can bring myself to kill Manny or Nikita... they’re my best friends and if we killed one, the one would plot their revenge and kill us.”

“Okay...” Safiya frowned, not liking where this was going. She really didn’t belong to either group of friends really, she vibed with Manny and not Nikita. And while Rosanna and Matt tried to include her, she ended up friend-wheeling.

Her face slowly fell, hoping the Savant wasn’t suggesting what he was suggesting. He didn’t meet her eyes, the rueful look on his face saying it all. 

“Joey... please tell me this isn’t going where I think this going...” 

“I’m sorry Safiya, I would write my own name down. But if I die, we all die.” 

Tears sprung up in her eyes, the fear in her face turning into betrayal. A single tear fell down her face. “Joey... don’t do this to me, please-“ 

She had imagined death so much tonight it felt like a memory. But it didn’t feel like it was supposed to be here, six feet ahead of her. At the friends of someone she considered a friend. 

The Investigative Reporter didn’t want Joey flipping Graceffa to be the last face she saw.   
  
She couldn’t believe this

“I’m so sorry-“ 

“YOU’RE NOT SORRY, HOW CAN YOU LOOK AT SOMEONE AND TELL THEM YOU’D TRADE THEIR LIFE FOR SOMEONE ELSE’S?” 

He didn’t answer, ashamed of himself for getting into this position. Joey was a little astonished at her raise of tone, Safiya was a quiet and level-headed person. Never had this fiery temper. Then again, he was condemning her to death when she had done nothing but help him.

Her walls, the walls that hold her up, make her strong just... collapsed. “You’re sick,” she spat as she lunged for the journal. 

Joey leapt out of the circle of salt and fell back. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Safiya-“

“I’m begging you Joey, don’t do this to me. Please,” she sobbed, trying to get the journal. 

“Why me, Joey? What did I do? I defended you. I trusted you. We all did! And this is how you treat us? Jc, Roi, Teala, Matt, Colleen...DO YOU REALLY THINK IT’S OKAY TO TRADE ALL OF US FOR YOUR OWN PERSONAL GAIN?”Safiya wrestled for the journal but Joey shoved her away from him and she slammed into the ground. 

“Safiya, you know I don’t want to do this-“ Joey frantically got to his feet and got to the middle. “But I don’t have a choice-“

“WE ALL HAVE CHOICES, DON’T YOU SAY THAT YOU DON’T HAVE ONE. I’M JUST EXPENDABLE TO YOU BECAUSE YOU’RE GETTING MATPAT BACK.” 

“That’s not true!”

“If that wasn’t, I wouldn’t be your stupid scapegoat.”

As she stared him down, Joey knew that if looks could kill, he’d be six feet under. She got up to her feet and prepared to tackle him for the journal to control her own fate, but Joey forced himself to write her name and her heart dropped. 

“Joey...” 

_Nonononono_ -

“I’m sorry.” 

“Sorry means nothing no matter how much you say it.” 

He flinched and couldn’t even look at her. She started shaking in fear, defeated as Joey strung the Harp. His hands shook as he reached for the instrument. 

“Don’t you dare...” she croaked as his fingers quiveringly. He strummed it once.

_No..._

Twice.

_Why_

Thrice. 

_Please God._

“Matt,” Joey said in a voice so hushed, it was barely audible. 

As the ritual was completed, dark smoke came trailing from the church. For a moment, he thought that he released the Carnival Master or some shiz, but it came straight for the Investigative Reporter. 

Safiya started backing up, not sure what was going to happen, her fate sealed. 

“I don’t want to die,” she whispered as the smoke turned into the Strong Man appeared, looking very much alive. Apparently he was back for round two since Matt was coming back. She started sprinting, not ready to face death.

“Ready to die?” he roared, repeating what he said when Matpat died, chasing her, growing claws. 

_“Joey help me!”_

The Savant just stood there like a coward and turned away. “JOEY!” Her call for help followed by a cry of pain as the Strong Man dug into her arm, claws digging into it. 

“JOEY! DON’T LET HIM DO THIS!” Safiya cried as she was torn apart by the demon. 

Again, the Savant didn’t budge, too frightened to move. To think. To do anything. 

All he could do was listen, shutting his eyes. And all he could see was The Gambler

_”JOEY DON’T LET THEM DO THIS!” Justine sobbed as she was carried into the coffin._

His heart was thundering in his chest as he heard her screams of agony. He covered his ears to block the sound, but it still rang in his ears as his friend was torn at the flesh. 

Unable to bear it anymore, he ran,becoming all that he never wanted to be. 

The price paid, but was it all really worth it?

~

Matpat opened his eyes, not sure where he was. Was this the afterlife? If so, why didn’t he see anybody? Or see anything at all for that matter? 

When the Detective died, he was greeted by a blonde woman and an Asian man standing in front of the church, saying that one of them had been there before. 

Meaning that Joey had been telling the truth. They needed him to save this town. But he was dead so the town didn’t really matter anymore... right?

“Where the hell am I?” he asked. Matt wanted to move, but the walls were oppressively close, too close for wiggle room. There was something soft on his back though... he thinks it’s satin. 

The air is stale and warm and when he tried to lift his head, it bonked against the ceiling. He cursed loudly and tried to concentrate. 

“C’mon Matt, use that brain of yours. Where could you possibly be?” Gradually, the pieces fall together and he realized a few things. 

First off, he was cold. As in lacking warmth kind of cold. Like as in, cold as a dead body kind of cold which he supposed should be expected. 

Secondly, every part of him throbbed. It felt like his skeleton was smashed into fragments by the Strong Man. Especially his head, which throbbed and made it difficult to think straight.

He’s in a coffin. He could try to figure out how much air he has by measuring the dimensions of the box he’s trapped in, but for the moment he really needs to make sure he doesn’t immediately freak out if he tries to move.

The silence is almost loud. There’s nothing but the sound of his deep, even breaths echoing in his ears. The urge to cry is overwhelming, but Matt knows if he allows himself to get upset he’ll lose the precious oxygen he’s trying to retain.

But why would he need oxygen if he’s as dead as a doorknob? 

The third thing he figured out is that he’s not dead. He’s still alive. Or rather, he’s alive again. Then he remembered the Lazarus coins. 

Lazarus was brought back from the dead. Does that mean Matpat and the others got resurrected? He crossed his fingers that this was the case, especially for Jc. Since Matt failed him. That failure was another bruise he earned.

Less conspiracies, more trying to figure out how to get out of here, Matt chastised himself and tried to tell himself what he should do. 

_Get out of this coffin for starters, dumbass._

Matt takes one more deep breath, before reaching up with his fingers to explore the seams of the coffin. It’d be damn near impossible to punch his way out, or push the lid of the coffin up into the dirt, but if he can somehow work the hinges off and slide the lid sideways, that might do the trick.

Of course, it means dirt will fill up the coffin and eat up his oxygen at a much faster rate, but he’s willing to risk that if it means escaping.

He does some quick math. If he’s being generous and very careful, he might have around five hours of oxygen in this coffin. His entire body trembles at the thought of spending hours in this confined space, but he doesn’t allow himself to panic, not yet. He has to get out of here first.

Carefully, he uses his fingernails to tear the cloth on either side of him, getting to the hard-packed wood of the box he’s in. From there he finds the hinges are on his left, and they’re nailed in, rather than screwed. That gives him some faint hope—all he needs is a wedge and he’ll be golden.

“Alright Matpat, just pretend that you’re not going to die if you open this coffin or do nothing and be a little optimistic. Don’t question why you’re still alive.”

~

“Do you think they’re okay?” Rosanna questioned. “I’m getting worried about them. What if something went wrong?” 

Nikita dismissed that that thought, waving her hand. “I’m sure they’re fine, they’ll be back any minute. And if they don’t come back within the next few minutes, we’ll look for them,” the Troublemaker promised, fixing a pawn piece that Safiya had knocked over earlier and setting it back in place next to the king. 

“I agree with Nikita, have a little faith in those two. They’re capable people,” Calliope commented. 

“There’s a thirty percent chance one of them will die if Joey’s one of them,” Manny cracked and Rosanna smacked him on the arm.

He was right though.

The Jetsetter was unable to shake to shake the feeling that something was aloof. “I just want to go home. I don’t want anybody else to die. I never wanted any of this to happen,” she murmured. 

“Neither did we,” Manny replied as Nikita took a seat on the couch. “Who would’ve thought this place would end up so empty?” the Record Producer remarked softly. 

“Well, we’re designers of our own catastrophe, so yes and no,” Nikita admitted. “Accepting the invitation has got to be my biggest regret.” 

“Amen sister.” 

They heard something slam against the door and Rosanna jumped. “Again? Has the chainsaw person come to finally kill us all?” 

“Maybe this is the time where we all die. I’m not mad about it.” 

Nikita took a pillow from the couch, prepared to yeet it across the room even though that probably wouldn’t help much. Only would piss them off. 

The doorknob turned and someone stumbled in and Nikita threw the pillow at them. “What the HELL, Nikita,” the voice grouches. 

“Matt?” the group inquired.

~

Manny ignored the fact that Matt was covered head to toe in dirt, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. Matt finds himself hugging back as Manny rambled rapidly, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I don’t regret that I won but I’m sorry you died, okay, I didn’t mean to kill you, please don’t be mad at me—”

“Manny,” Matt greeted him, unable to breath and his friend pulled away. Matt patted him on the shoulder. “I don’t blame you. You were fighting for your life, it’s okay. It’s not your fault.” 

Manny nodded, but the remorseful expression didn’t leave his face. Nikita flashed him an apologetic smile and merely nodded and Matt nodded in return. 

“Oh come on guys, act a little more like friends will you?” Manny groaned. The Troublemaker and Detective glanced at each other and the latter sighed before holding his fist up.

She rolled her eyes and bumped her fist against his and suddenly he was tackled by the sheer force that is Rosanna Pansino. 

His best friend clung on to him, bawling her eyes out. The others have the two some space and he whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“You should be!” she snapped, shoving him on the chest. “You died when we needed you most, you left me and-“ Rosanna sniffled. “AND YOU MADE ME FIGURE OUT WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO DO WITHOUT YOU! THAT’S NOT OKAY!”

“I’m sorry,” the Detective said again. “I never wanted you to go through that.” 

“At least you’re here now,” she sighed and took out something out of her pocket. “Here,” she said, handing him his badge. “

He noticed three others were missing from the group. “Where’s Colleen, Safiya and Joey?” 

As soon as he asked about Colleen, everyone looked uncomfortable. “Guys...?” Even Rosanna didn’t respond, looking sorrowful. 

“Colleen’s dead,” Nikita said flatly. “We had to... to cleanse the next artifact.” 

“Who did she go up against?” Manny gulped and answered that one. “There was no death challenge.” 

Matt looked at them in shock. “So you... sacrificed her?” 

“Yes.” The Record Producer paused for a second. “It was pretty much unanimous.” 

The grief struck him harder than he thought it would. Pretty much unanimous? Even Ro? He glances down at the Jetsetter as she cried. “And Joey and Safiya?”

“They were the ones that brought you back,” Calliope replied. “But they haven’t come back.” 

“Where did they go to?” 

The helper motioned towards the door. “The church.” 

“Didn’t see them there.” They all exchanged confused looks. 

“Really? You didn’t see either of them?”Mortimer inquired. The Detective shook his head. “Then again, I woke up in a coffin and was only focused on getting back here. Maybe they were there but there was so much to process that maybe they were there but I didn’t see them.” 

“Wouldn’t they have seen you then? A once dead man coming out of a coffin is pretty conspicuous,” Rosanna returned. Matt shrugged and asked, “Anything else that I missed?” 

“Not really, but we did find the next artifa-“ the Troublemaker started before the door creaked once more. 

They all slowly turned in the direction of the entrance and found the Savant stagger in, a mix of terror, anguish, regret and all things in between. 

The guests waited for the Investigative Reporter to stroll in as well, but no one else came through the door. “Joey, where’s Safiya?” Matt asked, glad to see him, but concerned for his friend. 

Joey didn’t answer, looking like he’d been crying, his eyes rimmed red, his cheeks splotchy. 

Matt hoped that didn’t mean what he thought it meant. “Joey. Where’s. Safiya,” Matt repeated slowly and firmly. 

“She... she...” Joey couldn’t finish his sentence, too shaken to do so. 

“No,” Manny breathed and even Nikita looked a little taken aback, letting out a quiet gasp. 

“Why? How?” she questioned, reading that it wasn’t just a death challenge that was involved. 

“You little bastard,” the Detective said. “Tell me you didn’t do what I think you did.” 

Joey was silent, but the silence confirmed her fate. 

“Tell me you didn’t do it. Tell me she didn’t die to bring me back. Tell me you didn’t just kill her,” Matt demanded. 

A tear slipped down the Savant’s cheek. “I had no other choice.” 

Rosanna let out a cry as she put a hand over her mouth. 

It seems that some have forgotten darlings, that not everyone can be saved in this town, not everyone gets a happy ending. 

Nobody owns their heavens, they only own their hell.

And if you don’t know that by now, you don’t know life well.

Because since when was life fair? 

Life was never fair, especially those who deserve it the most.

**The End**


End file.
